Twenty-seven years old and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Rick Hale studied English in college but inspired by his late engineer father, now builds clocks out of hardwoods. Made entirely of natural materials like wood, steel, brass and stone, Hale’s clocks take up to 400 hours to complete.

Having named his one-many company Clockwright – a portmanteau of clockmaker and the archaic woodwright – got the business off the ground in a distinctly 21st century way, with a Kickstarter campaign that raised just over US$27,000. The clocks Hale produces rely significantly on the work of John Harrison, the English clock and watchmaker best known for having perfected the marine chronometer.